The powerful story of 40 million Irish-Americans, descendants of the 7 million men and women who emigrated from Ireland to America in the last three centuries.

The Irish--rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic, fortune seekers and refugees--have been coming to America from the beginning. They fought in the Revolution, and the Civil War. During the Famine they came by the hundreds of thousands seeking a new life. And when Ellis Island opened in 1892, it was a young Irish girl--fifteen-year-old Annie Moore from County Cork--who was the first immigrant officially welcomed to America. Today, there are more than three times as many people of Irish descent in the United States as there are in Ireland.

Through moving text and extraordinary images, The Irish Americans tells the story of the Irish in America, paying tribute to their courage and their success. The remarkable contributions of these immigrants and their children, from Civil War generals to Robert Redford; from Eugene O'Neill to William Kennedy; from Andrew Jackson to John F. Kennedy, and thousands of others are celebrated in this extraordinary look at the Irish in America. The more than 200 illustrations, many in full color, including drawings, paintings, and photographs, offer visual proof of the grace, srength, passion, and spirit of these remarkable people.